Chapter 6

Finding What You Need on the Web

Get ready to . . .

⇒ Browse the Web with Microsoft Internet Explorer

⇒ Open Multiple Pages in Separate Tabs

⇒ Search for Anything

⇒ Work with the Reader App

⇒ Change Microsoft Internet Explorer Settings

⇒ Use Internet Explorer on the Desktop

The World Wide Web — or, simply, the Web — provides quick access to information and entertainment worldwide. One part library, one part marketplace, and one part soapbox, the Web makes everything equidistant: From down the block to halfway around the world — even out into space — everything is a few clicks or taps away. News, shopping, and the electronic equivalent of the town square await you.

You explore the Web using a web browser, a program designed to make browsing the Web easy, enjoyable, and safe. In this chapter, I show how you can use Microsoft Internet Explorer to step beyond your computer into the global village.

You browse web pages, which are published by governments, businesses, and individuals — anyone can create web pages. Each web page may consist of a few words or thousands of words and pictures. A web page is part of a larger collection called a website, which consists of a group of related web pages published on a topic by an organization or individual. Companies and individuals create websites to organize their related pages.

Pages and sites on the Web have some common characteristics:

⇒ Unique addresses, which are formally called URLs (URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, in case you’re ever on Jeopardy!).

⇒ Connecting links that move you from page to page when you select them. These links (also called hypertext links or hyperlinks) often appear underlined and blue. Pictures and other graphic images can also be links to other pages. Exploring the Web using links is easier than typing URLs.

In this chapter, you use Microsoft Internet Explorer to browse the Web. To get the most out of browsing, you juggle multiple sites at once. You find out how to search for almost anything, and you also use the Reader app for certain types of documents frequently found on the Web.

Browse the Web with Microsoft Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer by selecting its tile on the Start screen. Note the command bar at the bottom of the screen in Figure 6-1. The address for the current page, if any, appears in the command bar, located at the bottom of the screen. In Figure 6-1, the address is www.bing.com.Your screen may look different.

Each time you open Internet Explorer, you see the default page, called the home page, or the page you were browsing last. You may see an error message if you’re not connected to the Internet. If so, see Chapter 4 for information on connecting.

2. Select the address box in the command bar. A panel slides up to display tiles under Frequent and Pinned. You may not see anything under the headings until you browse some sites.

Figure 6-1

The tiles under Frequent and Pinned make it easy to return to web pages by simply selecting the tile you want. These tiles become more useful as you continue to browse. Eventually, you have to scroll to the right to see those that don’t fit on the first screen.

3. In the address box, type www.win8mjh.com and select the go arrow (right-pointing arrow) or press Enter. The web page for this book appears, as shown in Figure 6-2.

If you don’t have a keyboard, see Chapter 1 for information on using the virtual keyboard.

Figure 6-2

On the book’s web page, I post updates and links to recommended resources.

4. Select the Welcome, Readers link with a click or a tap.

To use the keyboard to select a link, press the Tab key until the link is selected, and then press Enter. (Seeing when the link is selected can be difficult.) I include other keystrokes as you need them.

5. Read the text on the Welcome page. Select the back arrow in the command bar (or press Alt+left arrow) to return to the preceding page. If you see a back arrow on the left side of the screen, you can select that instead.

6. Select the forward arrow (or press Alt+right arrow) to return to the Welcome page. If you see a forward arrow on the right side of the screen, you can use that instead. The browser remembers the pages you visit to make it easy to go forward and back.

7. Select the address box. The Frequent and Pinned screen appears, as shown in Figure 6-3. Select the Windows 8 for Seniors tile. If you don’t see that tile, type win8mjh and select the matching tile or press Enter.

Browsing the Web consists of entering address, following links, going forward and back, and using the Frequent tiles. Relatively simple activities that can absorb hours.

Figure 6-3

8. Browse the first book page again. (Use the forward or back arrow or the Frequent tile, or enter www.win8mjh.com.) Select the pushpin button to the right of the address (refer to Figure 6-2). The box shown in Figure 6-4 appears. Select the Pin to Start button.

You can change the text in the box before you select Pin to Start. However, there’s usually no need to change the text unless it’s overly long or unclear.

Figure 6-4

9. Return to the Start screen. Scroll to the right to locate the new tile for the book’s web page. Select that tile to open the page in Internet Explorer (IE).

10. Select the address box. Note the tile for the book’s web page is also under the Pinned heading.

Pin the pages you want to visit easily. See Chapter 3 for information on unpinning and rearranging the tiles on the Start screen.

11. To print this web page, display the charms bar and then select the Devices charm. In the Devices panel, select a printer. Then, select the Print button to print or select anything outside the Devices panel to cancel. For information on installing (and using) a printer, see Chapter 13.

Some web pages are quite long, requiring more than one page of paper. Be certain you want to print.

12. Return to the Start screen.

You may encounter web pages that don’t open properly in the Windows 8 version of IE because it doesn’t support every function found on web pages. See the section “Use Internet Explorer on the Desktop” for information on an alternative for viewing web pages.

Open Multiple Pages in Separate Tabs

1. Select the Internet Explorer tile on the Start screen.

2. Browse the book’s website, at www.win8mjh.com.

3. Display the command bar in Figure 6-5 using one of these methods:

• Mouse: Click the right mouse button, making sure the pointer is not over a link, photo, or video.

• Touchscreen: Drag down from the top edge or up from the bottom edge.

• Keyboard: Press +Z.

Use one of these methods if the command bar along the bottom disappears, as it will while you browse a page.

Is that the app bar on top and the command bar on the bottom? To my mind, the app bar appears when you use one of the methods in the preceding step. But the area at the bottom of Internet Explorer is called the command bar when it appears alone. The Weather app (see Chapter 2) has an app bar at the top of the screen and another app bar at the bottom. Computer terminology is tricky.

Figure 6-5

4. In the app bar at the top, select the plus sign. On the next screen, select any tile or type a new page address.

5. Display the app bar again. Note two (or more) thumbnails at the top of the screen (see Figure 6-6). These are called tabs, because older web browsers display notebook-like tabs instead of thumbnails. Select the first thumbnail tab to switch back to the first web page.

Browsing in multiple tabs allows you to keep one page open while visiting another, perhaps to compare information or to follow a different thought.

The keyboard shortcut for switching between tabs is Ctrl+Tab.

Figure 6-6

6. Once again, display the app bar. Select the X in the top-right corner of one of the thumbnails to close that particular tab. Close as many open tabs as you want to reduce clutter and to simplify switching between open tabs.

The keyboard shortcut for closing the current tab is Ctrl+W. (W? Long story.)

When you switch to the Start screen, the pages you are browsing remain open in IE. When you switch back to IE, those pages are ready to use. To start IE fresh without any open pages, close each open tab.

Search for Anything

1. With Internet Explorer open, select the address box and then type travel. IE attempts to match what you type with a tile for a page you have browsed. (Ignore these matching tiles for this exercise, but take advantage of them later.) Select the go arrow next to the address box or press Enter.

2. A search results page appears, as shown in Figure 6-7. The results come from www.bing.com, which is the default search engine for IE. A search engine is simply a website that provides links to web pages that match your search. (That definition, however, ignores the complex process going on behind the scenes.)

Although you don’t have to browse www.bing.com to begin a search, you should browse that page eventually to see the beautiful photos, which change daily (refer to Figure 6-1).

3. Scroll down the page of search results. Select any link you want to follow. If you get to the bottom of the page, select Next to see more search results.

4. Return to the search screen using one of the following methods:

• Select the back arrow (or press Alt+left arrow) to return to the previous page. The more pages you’ve browsed one after another, the less effective the back arrow is in returning to the first page.

• Select the address box. Then either select the Bing tile (if there is one) or type bing and select Bing from the matching tiles. The more complex your search, the less effective this method because you have to perform the search repeatedly.

Figure 6-7

5. Select the search box at the top of the Bing page. After the word travel, type new mexico (no capitals needed). As you type, potential matches for your terms appear directly below the box. If you see an item matching the search you want, select the item. Otherwise, select the magnifying glass button to the right of the box to search.

Different search engines may turn up different results. Other search engines include Google (www.google.com), Ask (www.ask.com), and Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com). To use one of these search engines when exploring the Web, enter its address in the address box.

Search results often include links to suggestions for related searches and a history of recent searches you’ve made. Take advantage of anything that requires less typing.

6. Note the tabs at the top of the Bing page, below the search box. The first tab is Web, which contains the results you see by default. Additional tabs vary with the search. Select each of the tabs, which may include any of the following:

• Images displays pictures matching your terms.

• Videos displays clips and snippets related to your search terms.

• Maps will help you get there.

• Places displays details about a location.

• News displays search results from recent news, instead of all the results of the broader Web.

• More leads to shopping and services Bing provides, as well as some information on using Bing.

The Image tab includes the SafeSearch setting, near the top of the page. Your options are Moderate, which attempts to filter out potentially offensive or obscene images, Strict, for even more filtering, and Off, for anything goes.

7. Close IE with one of the following techniques:

• Mouse: Move the pointer to the top of the screen until the pointer becomes a hand. Then click and drag IE off the bottom of the screen.

• Touchscreen: Swipe from the top edge and drag IE off the bottom of the screen.

• Keyboard: Press Alt+F4.

Closing IE or any other app is optional.

Search the Microsoft Store for the Bing app, which displays results differently and can be snapped to one side of the screen (if your screen supports that). See Chapter 9 for information on using the Microsoft Store.

Work with the Reader App

1. On the Start screen, select the Internet Explorer tile. Then browse the book’s web page, at http://www.win8mjh.com. Select the Welcome Readers link.

2. On the Welcome, Reader page, select the link This Document Opens in the Reader App. You see the following message at the bottom of the page (see Figure 6-8): Do you want to open or save reader.pdf from www.mjhinton.com?.

Figure 6-8

3. Select Open. The Reader app opens with the contents of the linked document (in a format called PDF). Adobe Acrobat Reader is a program more commonly used to open these documents on computers other than Windows 8.

Select Save (refer to Figure 6-8) if you want to read this document again. By saving the document to your computer, you can open it anytime, without returning to the web page.

4. In Reader, display the app bar, which is shown in Figure 6-9. Select the Two Pages button to display two pages at once. Select One Page to see just one page at a time. Continuous (the default option) displays the largest size text and less than one page at a time. Use one of the following methods to display the app bar in any app:

• Mouse: Click the right mouse button.

• Touchscreen: Swipe down from the top or up from the bottom of the screen.

• Keyboard: Press +Z.

Figure 6-9

5. In the Reader app bar, select Find, which enables you to search a document for text. Type reader and then select the magnifying glass or press the Enter key. Every instance of matching text is highlighted, as shown in Figure 6-10. Select Next or Previous to move through the document. Select Results to display a list of matching items in context (useful for long documents). Select Close to end the search.

6. Display the app bar again, and then select Save As. The Files screen appears. Keep or change the filename at the bottom of the screen. Select Save. Saving the document allows you to access it later without browsing the original web page.

When saving any file, you can select the Files heading for a list of specific locations. If you see SkyDrive, select that to store this file in the cloud (on the Web) and automatically copy it to any linked computers.

Figure 6-10

7. Display the app bar again, and then select Open. A thumbnail of the file you just saved appears, along with an option to browse your computer for other documents. (The current document won’t appear because it’s already open.) Select the back arrow to return to the open document.

8. Display the app bar one more time, and then select More, which displays the following functions:

• Rotate is useful if the document is not rotated correctly.

• Info displays information about the document, including who created it and when, as well as the document length. Permissions indicate what functions are available, most importantly printing.

9. To print this document, display the charms bar and then select the Devices charm. In the Devices panel, select your printer. Select the Print button to print or select anything outside the Devices panel to cancel. For information on installing (and using) a printer, see Chapter 13.

Some documents are quite long, requiring more than one page of paper. Be certain you want to print.

10. Close the Reader app with one of the following techniques:

• Mouse: Move the pointer to the top of the screen until the pointer becomes a hand. Then click and drag IE off the bottom of the screen.

• Touchscreen: Swipe from the top edge and drag IE off the bottom of the screen.

• Keyboard: Press Alt+F4.

Change Microsoft Internet Explorer Settings

1. In Microsoft Internet Explorer, display the charms bar and then select Settings.

2. In the Settings panel for Internet Explorer, select the Internet Options function at the top.

3. Note the option to Delete Browsing History in Figure 6-11. Some people delete history for privacy reasons. Be aware that doing so may make using some websites less convenient, specifically sites that recognize you, such as a shopping site.

Figure 6-11

4. In the Zoom section, select a spot in the bar. The farther left you select, the more of the page you see and the smaller the text. The farther to the right you select, the less of the page you see and the larger the contents. Notice the changes to the page you were on when you started these steps. Zoom to 120% for improved ease of reading. Select the back arrow at the top of the Settings panel.

5. In the Internet Explorer Settings panel, select Help. Microsoft’s help page for Internet Explorer appears in a new tab. Browse the site.

6. On any web page, use one of these methods to change the zoom level:

• Mouse: Press the Ctrl key while rolling the mouse wheel away and back, which zooms in and then out.

• Touchscreen: Touch two fingers on the screen. Spread your fingers to zoom in. Pinch your fingers to zoom out.

• Keyboard: Press Ctrl+plus sign to zoom in. Press Ctrl+minus sign to zoom out. Press Ctrl+0 to return to normal (usually 100 percent).

These methods are independent of the Zoom setting you chose in Step 4, which sets the default zoom level for all pages.

Use Internet Explorer on the Desktop

1. On the Start screen, select the Internet Explorer tile. Select the address box. On the Frequent and Pinned page, select the Windows 8 for Seniors tile, if there is one, or type www.win8mjh.com in the address box and then select the go arrow. The book’s website appears.

2. In the command bar at the bottom of the screen, select the page tools (wrench) button to display the menu choices shown in Figure 6-12.

The Find on Page function enables you to type text to search for on the current page.

Figure 6-12

A plus sign on the Page Tools button indicates the site has an associated app. If you see Get App for This Site, you can use that option to switch to Microsoft Store for a related app. After the app is installed, you may see Switch to [this site’s] App. Consider getting apps that are linked to your most important sites, such as the Bing app.

3. Select View on the Desktop to open the current page in the desktop version of IE, as shown in Figure 6-13. See Chapter 5 for help on working with the desktop.

The desktop version of IE has more functions than the Windows 8 version, including a function called Favorites for organizing your most-visited web pages into folders. Desktop IE also enables you to install more functions called accelerators and add-ons, such as Adobe Reader (for printed documents and forms). If a page refuses to open or looks wrong in the IE app, see if using View on the Desktop helps. Desktop IE may ask for your permission to open or download additional functions. Be careful. Don’t accept just anything from any website.

4. Examine the desktop version of IE, which is quite different from the IE app. The address bar at the top of the window displays the web address for the page currently shown in the browser. A tab appears to the right with the title of the page. Additional tabs would appear farther to the right.

Figure 6-13

Two keyboard-only shortcuts: To browse the first page listed as you type, press Shift+Enter. For a Web address that begins with www. and ends with .com, such as www.win8mjh.com, you can type just the middle part of the address — for this example, win8mjh — and then press Ctrl+Enter. The browser adds the beginning and the end of the address.

5. Scroll the page using one of these methods:

• Mouse: Click in the scroll bar area on the right edge of the window. Or roll the mouse wheel toward you or away.

• Touchscreen: Drag the page up or down.

• Keyboard: Press Page Down or the spacebar. Scroll back up by pressing Page Up or Shift+spacebar. Use the up or down arrows to scroll up or down, respectively, one line at a time.

6. Select the Welcome, Readers link with a click or a tap.

A web page may take some time to open. Look in the tab for indications of a delay, such as a Wait message or a rotating circle.

7. To return to the preceding page, select the back arrow to the left of the address bar or press Alt+left arrow or the Backspace key.

8. To go to the Welcome page again, select the forward arrow (or press Alt+right arrow). The browser remembers the pages you visit to make it easy to go forward and back.

9. Switch to the Start screen using one of the following methods:

• Mouse: Move the pointer to the lower-left corner of the screen, and then click.

• Touchscreen: Swipe from the right edge for the charms bar, and then tap the Start charm.

• Keyboard: Press the key.

You can use the desktop version of Internet Explorer also by selecting the Desktop tile on the Start screen. Then start Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) by selecting the blue e icon in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen.